Systems and methods for a wall assembly having an acoustic panel
Various embodiments for a wall assembly having an acoustic panel defining a plurality of thru-holes that act to break low density mechanically coupled pathways for sound transmission through the acoustic panel for reducing sound transmission are disclosed herein.
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This is a non-provisional application that claims benefit to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/174,294 filed 13 Apr. 2021, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
FIELDThe present disclosure generally relates to a wall assembly, and in particular to system and methods for manufacturing and assembling a wall assembly having an acoustic panel to reduce sound transmission through the wall assembly.
BACKGROUNDCurrent soundproofing technology used for the purpose of reducing sound transmission through wall partitions is based on four basic principles—decoupling, absorption, mass and damping. These four elements are typically increased through additive solutions, such as additional components or features having to be added to the wall assembly, to reduce sound transmission through the wall assembly. Although current soundproofing technology for conventional wall assemblies work well, they are expensive, complicated to build, and prone to human error during installation.
It is with these observations in mind, among others, that various aspects of the present disclosure were conceived and developed.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding elements among the view of the drawings. The headings used in the figures do not limit the scope of the claims.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONVarious embodiments of a wall assembly having an acoustic panel configured for the reduction in the transmission of sound through the wall assembly are disclosed herein. In one aspect, the acoustic panel of the wall assembly is made from an expanded polystyrene (EPS) that defines a grid array of thru-holes formed through the EPS material that create a dead space when a respective drywall panel is attached to the front and rear sides of the acoustic panel. In one aspect, the dead air space created by the plurality of thru-holes reduces the internal pressure differential and vibration phase between the source side and the receiving side of the wall assembly. In another aspect, the dead space created by the plurality of thru-holes also results in the drywall panels on both sides of the acoustic panel vibrating in-phase when sound travels from the source side of the drywall panel to the receiving side of the drywall panel in order to dramatically reduce the sound transmission through the acoustic panel. In a further aspect, the plurality of thru-holes is configured to disrupt the otherwise large flat panel surface of the acoustic panel with a grid array arrangement of thru-holes that effectively reduces surface area of the acoustic panel, thereby resulting in less vibration and resonance of the sound transmission through the wall assembly.
Acoustic Panel Overview
Referring to
As shown in
Sound Transmission Reduction with Thru-Holes
As illustrated in
In one aspect, the plurality of thru-holes 117 are formed completely through the panel body 110. In one possible arrangement, the plurality of thru-holes 117 are formed in a grid array of columns and rows, although the thru-holes 117 may be formed through the panel body 110 in other symmetrical or asymmetrical arrangements. In the present embodiment, the panel body 110 may define a grid array arrangement of three columns of sixteen rows consisting of 16 thru-holes 117 for a total of 48 thru-holes 117, although other arrangements of the thru-holes 117 are contemplated. As shown, the plurality of thru-holes 117 do not cross or intrude upon the rigid internal structure 140.
In some embodiments, the panel body 110 may have a length of 48 inches, a height of 120 inches and a thickness t (
Maintaining Structural Integrity
Referring to
Upon full disposal of each reinforcement strip 104 of the plurality of reinforcement strips 104A-104D through the corresponding vertical slit 121 of the plurality of vertical slits 121A-121D and in communication with a vertical void 120 of the plurality of vertical voids 120A-120D, concrete or other bonding material may be poured into each respective vertical void 120 to bond the associated reinforcement strip 104 to the panel body 110 and form the rigid internal structure 140 (
In particular, the top side 115 defines a first projecting portion 131 associated with the front side 111 of the acoustic panel 102, a second projecting portion 132 associated with the rear side 112 of the acoustic panel 102, and the top horizontal void 118 defined between the first projecting portion 131 and the second projecting portion 132. The first top track 109A engages the first projecting portion 131 and the second top track 109B engages the second projecting portion 132 of the top side 115. The top horizontal void 118 is formed laterally through the panel body 110 such that concrete or other bonding material may be poured into and fill up the top horizontal void 118 during assembly to form a top horizontal beam 142 (
Similarly, the bottom side 116 defines a first projecting portion 133 associated with the front side 111 of the acoustic panel 102, a second projecting portion 134 associated with the rear side 112 of the acoustic panel 102, and the bottom horizontal void 119 defined between the first projecting portion 133 and the second projecting portion 134. The bottom track 108 engages the first and second projecting portions 133 and 134 of the bottom side 116. The bottom horizontal void 119 is formed laterally through the panel body 110 such that that concrete or other bonding material may be poured into and fill up the bottom horizontal void 119 during assembly to form the bottom horizontal beam 144 (
In some embodiments shown in
Referring specifically to
Method of Manufacture and Assembly
Testing
Sound Transmission Class (STC) is an integer rating of how well a building partition, for example a wall assembly, attenuates airborne sound. Transmission Loss (TL) is a measurement of the decibel dB (volume) difference on either side of a wall assembly. STC is calculated by taking the Transmission Loss values tested at 16 standard frequencies over a range of between 125 Hz to 4000 Hz and plotting these values on a graph. For every 10 STC points increased, the sound transmission is reduced by 50%. As an example, a typical 2×4 stud wall with fiberglass and one layer of ⅝″ drywall on each side has an STC 34 rating, while the wall assembly 100 with the acoustic panel 102 with one layer of ⅝″ drywall on each side has an STC 46 rating. This dramatic increase of 12 STC points reduces the sound transmission by approximately 60% by the wall assembly 100 with the acoustic panel 102.
During testing, a number of panel bodies 110 were tested per ASTM E90 Standard Test Method for Laboratory Measurement of Airborne Sound Transmission Loss of Building Partitions and Elements using two adjacent reverberation rooms which were arranged with an opening between them in which a test partition was installed. An approximately diffuse sound field was produced in one room using a multi-frequency signal generator connected as an input to an amplifier which was in turn connected to a loudspeaker. This was designated the source room. Sound incident on the test partition caused it to vibrate and create a sound field in the second room and the area of the specimen was used to calculate transmission loss. Because transmission loss is a function of frequency, measurements were made in a series of frequency bands.
The below Tables 1-5 provide various test results of the wall assembly 100 with the acoustic panel 102 with respect to a prior wall assembly similar to the wall assembly 100 but featuring a solid EPS panel body rather than the acoustic panel 102. Sound transmission loss in decibels (dB) is correspondingly plotted in
Tables 4 and 5 show sound transmission loss for a prior wall (corresponding with
In particular embodiments have been illustrated and described, various modifications can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are within the scope and teachings of this invention as defined in the claims appended hereto.
Claims
1. A wall assembly comprising:
- an acoustic panel having a panel body defining a front side, a rear side, a top side, a bottom side, a first lateral side, and a second lateral side opposite the first lateral side, and a plurality of thru-holes defined through the panel body between the front side and the rear side;
- a first drywall panel attached to the front side of the panel body; and
- a second drywall panel attached to the rear side of the panel body
- wherein the panel body defines a plurality of vertical voids formed between the top side and the bottom side of the panel body, and wherein the panel body further defines a plurality of vertical slits formed along the front side and rear side between the top side and the bottom side of the panel body, each vertical slit of the plurality of vertical slits being in communication with a respective vertical void of the plurality of vertical voids.
2. The wall assembly of claim 1, wherein the panel body is made from an expanded polystyrene (EPS) material.
3. The wall assembly of claim 1, wherein the panel body has a thickness t and wherein each of the plurality of thru-holes has a diameter d equal to half the thickness of the panel body.
4. The wall assembly of claim 1, wherein the plurality of thru-holes is arranged in a grid array formed along the panel body.
5. The wall assembly of claim 1, further comprising:
- a plurality of reinforcement strips, each reinforcement strip of the plurality of reinforcement strips comprising an elongated body defining a plurality of laterally extending tab portions, each reinforcement strip being configured for disposal within a respective vertical slit of the plurality of vertical slits such that the plurality of laterally extending tab portions couple within a respective vertical void of the plurality of vertical voids.
6. The wall assembly of claim 5, wherein each vertical void of the plurality of vertical voids is configured to receive a bonding material that forms a portion of a rigid internal structure and bonds each respective reinforcement strip to the panel body.
7. The wall assembly of claim 1, wherein the top side of the panel body forms a top horizontal void, and the bottom side of the panel body forms a bottom horizontal void.
8. The wall assembly of claim 7, wherein the top horizontal void and the bottom horizontal void are configured to receive a bonding material that forms a portion of a rigid internal structure.
9. The wall assembly of claim 1, further comprising:
- a bottom track configured for engagement with the bottom side of the panel body.
10. The wall assembly of claim 1, wherein the first lateral side forms a concave surface, and the second lateral side forms a convex surface to enable interlocking of a plurality of panel bodies.
11. A wall assembly comprising:
- an acoustic panel having a panel body defining a front side, a rear side, a top side, a bottom side, a first lateral side, and a second lateral side opposite the first lateral side, and a plurality of thru-holes defined through the panel body between the front side and the rear side;
- a first drywall panel attached to the front side of the panel body;
- a second drywall panel attached to the rear side of the panel body; and
- a pair of top tracks configured for engagement with the top side of the panel body.
12. An acoustic panel comprising:
- a panel body defining a front side, a rear side, a top side, a bottom side, a first lateral side, and a second lateral side opposite the first lateral side; and
- a plurality of thru-holes defined through the panel body;
- wherein each thru-hole of the plurality of thru-holes reduces a number of mechanically coupled paths of a transmitted sound wave between the front side of the panel body and the rear side of the panel body to reduce sound transmission from the front side of the panel body to the rear side of the panel body
- wherein the panel body defines a plurality of vertical voids formed between the top side and the bottom side of the panel body, and wherein the panel body further defines a plurality of vertical slits formed along the front side and rear side between the top side and the bottom side of the panel body, each vertical slit of the plurality of vertical slits being in communication with a respective vertical void of the plurality of vertical voids.
13. The acoustic panel of claim 12, wherein the plurality of thru-holes is configured to reduce sound wave transmission through the panel body in a frequency range of 250-400 Hz.
14. The acoustic panel of claim 12, wherein the panel body is made from an expanded polystyrene (EPS) material.
15. The acoustic panel of claim 12, wherein each vertical slit of the plurality of vertical slits is configured to receive a respective reinforcement strip of a plurality of reinforcement strips, each reinforcement strip of the plurality of reinforcement strips comprising an elongated body defining a plurality of laterally extending tab portions, each reinforcement strip being configured for disposal within a respective vertical slit of the plurality of vertical slits such that the plurality of laterally extending tab portions couple within a respective vertical void of the plurality of vertical voids.
16. The acoustic panel of claim 12, wherein each vertical void of the plurality of vertical voids is configured to receive a bonding material that forms a portion of a rigid internal structure and bonds a respective reinforcement strip to the panel body.
17. The acoustic panel of claim 12, wherein the top side of the panel body forms a top horizontal void, and the bottom side of the panel body forms a bottom horizontal void.
18. The acoustic panel of claim 17, wherein the top horizontal void and the bottom horizontal void are configured to receive a bonding material that forms a portion of a rigid internal structure.
19. The acoustic panel of claim 12, wherein the first lateral side forms a concave surface, and the second lateral side forms a convex surface to enable interlocking of a plurality of panel bodies.
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Type: Grant
Filed: Apr 13, 2022
Date of Patent: Dec 26, 2023
Patent Publication Number: 20220325522
Assignee: HercuTech, Inc. (Tempe, AZ)
Inventor: Randall C. Hartwick (Tempe, AZ)
Primary Examiner: Babajide A Demuren
Application Number: 17/719,696